The Legacy of an End
by SiriPhoenix
Summary: AU There are three people in Elles's childhood world: her older brother, herself, and their best friend. As they grow, they move down different paths with different friends and different loves, but always they come back to each other. AU for a Marauders-era world without Voldemort and where S. Snape has a younger sister. T is currently for pretty coarse language at the beginning.
1. An End

**A/N** My apologies ahead of time for the shortness of the first two, and potentially later, chapters; I often dream in drabbles, and sometimes I don't believe that they _should_ be extended.

A note on the world: Voldemort doesn't exist. Tom Riddle may or may not (he hasn't come up in my imaginings yet), but probably not. However, dark wizards _do_ exist - I believe that there will always be people who choose cruelty, evil, and a blunt and quick ascent to power over kindness and hard work. The wizarding society created by JKR seems to make this choice more acceptable by more people than, say, choosing to work for the mob is in my Muggle society (maybe it IS acceptable in some places, in which case this may be more applicable than I thought).

The T rating is for language in this chapter, and potentially in later chapters as the characters get older. There will also be one scene with fairly violent themes, but I don't think it will be graphic enough to go over T.

I would love to improve my writing, so if as you read, you find yourself wishing I was better at a particular aspect, please let me know! Also, if I typo or misuse words, please tell me so that I can fix it for future readers.

**Disclaimer: I own none of the recognizable characters/places in this or any other chapter published by me on FanFiction. They belong to JK Rowling, Warner Bros, and potentially others who have inspired me without my noticing.**

_An End_

Running…no, she was skipping…and running, at once, the way she could only in dreams. But even knowing it was a dream didn't make it any less beautiful. She was in the sparse wood behind the house. Running. Running so gracefully that no one could fail to notice the beauty of the motion. Running so fast that no one could catch her –

"Bloody piece of shit!" Elles froze out of her dream as the one vase in the house crashed on the wall dividing the bedroom from the kitchen. She hadn't so much as fluttered an eyelid since she woke, but her brother reached across her to hold her still regardless, the motion so smooth as to seem subconscious.

"I'm the shit?" Elles was listening, hard, for the words she knew were coming. "_I'm the shit?_ You fucking bitch, I'm the only one in this bloody house that _does_ any-" The sound of the vase smashing came again, a little further towards the other bedroom this time. Elles sighed quietly; her mum had cast the spells to fix and hurl the vase nonverbally today. It was time to leave.

"_You fucking freak, you think you can_…"

"Come on," Sev whispered, rolling off the edge of the mattress and pulling her up behind him. The pair climbed onto the rocking chair that slumped rather than rocked, and slipped through the window frame, Sev lifting Elles carefully before him. She pushed off the edges of the walls and landed with a soft thump. Sev pulled himself through and jumped down behind her, checking first her hands, then his own, for any cuts from the jagged remnants of glass still lining the frames.

Elles turned away from the house and walked, without any rush. The only person who would notice her absence was walking beside her, holding her hand gently.


	2. A Beginning

_A Beginning_

"C'mon, Lily!" They were lying in Sev's hiding place, crammed one warm body against the next, surrounded by a loose embrace of sun-warmed leaves. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the swinging tendrils of green, never too bright, but never giving in to the shadows of the wood. Elles was between her brother and Lily, giggling with the other girl. "What's it matter if I don't get Blake? All that joy crap? He's saying kids are supposed to be happy little gits. That's the opposite of a discovery – that's ignoring reality! He's useless to me."

"You're just grumbling 'cause Lily's better than you at Muggle stuff."

Lily laughed. "I think our Sev just needs gloomier poems than the school assigns us." She stopped to think for a moment. Her laugh lingered in a smile, but her eyes, turned up into the swaying branches, were miles away.

Elles watched her brother as he watched their best friend, watched as his brows furrowed just slightly as he clearly tried to think of a way to bring Lily back to him, to them. Elles watched…and she imagined it must be difficult for him; the two people who made up his world both often got lost in their own minds, leaving him behind to wait for them. As he opened his mouth, smiling tentatively, her smile brightened up through her eyes and she turned back to him on her own.

"What's gonna happen, Sev?" Lily asked, wonder and excitement cracking her voice. "Tell me again, please!"

Sev smiled, and explained once again how owls would bring their acceptance letters and school lists. How they would go to Diagon Alley, the first step into the world that held her future hidden within the London she's always known. The sorts of subjects that they would buy books about and study for the rest of summer, the other supplies for their classes – their wands. This is what Sev was most excited about, clearly, and it had rubbed off on Lily. Elles could see it in her eyes; she imagined a wand as a beautiful thing, innately good and pure, like her. What Elles didn't understand was how Sev could be so reckless – he had seen what a wand could do. What a wand drove their father to do. What it encouraged their mother to say, to do, to _be_. The wandless magic that she, Sev and Lily so often amused themselves with – _that_ was innocent, _that_ was pure. The only wand-magic Sev and Elles had ever seen was blunt and angry. The fact that an instrument could turn something so beautiful so ugly was terrifying, and Elles dreaded the day that the older children received their letters. It would signal the beginning of the end of their little family.

* * *

Elles couldn't let go. She couldn't. She wouldn't. She had promised herself earlier that she wouldn't act like a kid today, that she would give Sev a quick kiss on his cheek and a pat on his shoulder, and then she'd send him off, with a bored smile that she had been practicing in the Evans' mirror for weeks.

But that was earlier. When, despite the fact that she'd watched Sev clear their small room of his few things, despite that she'd watched him – helped him, even – pack them into an old patched up trunk newly cleaned of mold that they found in the attic, despite the eagerness and hope in his eyes that signaled to Elles more clearly than anything else that he was leaving, when they finally made it to Platform 9 ¾ and she saw her brother really leaving her, she threw herself at him, clinging to him, holding him close enough to make up for the distance that would soon be between them. She couldn't let go. Sev had immediately caught her, and held her. They were the same height this year, Elles realized. She had just had a growth spurt, but Sev held himself so tall these days that she hadn't noticed she had caught up. Sev understood her though, he just held her, giving no sign of embarrassment.

"I love you," Sev whispered in her ear as Elles finally loosened her hold. "I'll write to you so much you won't even notice I'm gone! And the Evanses will look after you, you know that."

Elles smiled at her brother. Only one thing he'd said had been a lie, but she appreciated it nonetheless. "I love you, too, Sev. Always." Elles finally let go, and turned to give Lily a smile that she hoped looked happier than she felt. Lily's smile was a little bit too understanding though, and Elles sighed.

"One year, Elles!" Lily said in her encouragement-voice. "Not even one year, really. We'll be home for Christmas and Easter, and then you'll be getting your letter and we'll all be together all the time again!" She smiled at Elles hopefully, and Elles tried to smile back with more enthusiasm. She really didn't want to ruin Lily's and Sev's day. It _was_ their day, after all.

Elles forced a grin onto her face.


	3. Of Wands and Magic

_Of Wands and Magic_

The new school year passed much more quickly than Elles ever would have hoped. She still slept at Spinner's End, but she ate at the Evanses and often stayed there all day, reading and watching their television. They had offered her the guest bedroom, but she had politely refused. She wasn't as proud as Sev, but she felt an undisguised sense of shame at the idea of not being able to handle her own parents at this age. She was ten, no longer the little kid that Sev had had to protect. Elles claimed early on that her parents were gone all day at work, and that she was lonely during meals without her brother – avoiding the truth that the only food in the house was a carton of spoiled milk and month-old take-out. It worked. Mr. and Mrs. Evans didn't look at her with pity when she came; rather, they lit up with joy to have another child at the table. One month into autumn, they felt like family.

Petunia was less welcoming. Elles remembered the beginning of the year, when the older girl was clearly wary of her. It made sense; Petunia hated that Lily could do magic, and hated Sev for encouraging her to take pride in it. The first time Elles came over without the other two, Petunia had shot her an angry glare and flounced away from the table, calling back to her parents that "that freak" made her sick. As autumn progressed, though, Elles became more and more curious about how all of the Evans's machines worked without magic. She smiled at the memory. Mr. Evans had been at work and Mrs. Evans had been outside tending the garden. Elles was sitting in front of the television testing the dials, trying to find any clue into how it worked.

"What are doing?" Petunia had come down the stairs behind Elles, and was looking at her suspiciously.

"I'm trying to figure out how it works," Elles mumbled. "This would be so hard to do with magic that only really powerful wizards and witches would be able to make it work, but you all treat it like it's no big deal." She looked back at the curious machine, her face scrunched up in frustration. "I don't get it."

"It stays on with electricity, but it really works by using light, I heard." Petunia sat beside her, and turned a dial, making the entire screen turn to static. "See? This is what light normally does in the air, but then someone smart figured out how to send it through the air all organized like, and this antenna here catches it." The girl smiled hesitantly at Elles as she explained. "Now we don't need to understand how it works, people in factories just need to follow directions to make more."

Elles was flabbergasted. One clever Muggle could give the entire Muggle world something so powerful, while only potions and spells could work like that in the wizarding world, and even so the wizard or witch attempting it would have to be sufficiently skilled for the magic to come out right. Petunia seemed to be gratified by Elles's amazement, and that gratification grew into clear excitement as the younger girl started drilling her about other Muggle items and methods. The two girls left behind unconsciously grew closer over the remainder of the term as they traded what each of their "magics" could do.

Christmas came, and Sev and Lily came home. Sev and Elles couldn't seem to stop touching each other; one would always be leaning into the other, or reaching out to tuck back a loose strand of hair, or resting a hand on the other's shoulder. Elles wanted to reassure herself that her brother was truly back, was truly still _her_ Sev after those months away. He still seemed to be; the two smiled at and murmured jokes to each other throughout the first day of break, and then every day after that.

Lily and Sev gushed about Hogwarts. They told Elles and Lily's parents about their classes, professors, houses – Sev grew quietly sad for this part – friends, and enemies. Elles was astonished that they already had enemies. It seemed like such a happy place, but apparently there were some who would hex you as soon as look at you. The pit in her stomach that had eased with their visit to Diagon Alley returned – was it truly impossible to be good and kind with a wand? On Christmas Day, they all five celebrated and opened presents together. Petunia appeared to be getting more comfortable with the idea that Lily was magical and she, well, wasn't, after all of Elles's insistence that science and mechanics were easily as magical as anything that she could do as a witch. Soon, though, break ended, and Elles had to watch Lily and Sev get back on the Hogwarts Express.

The rest of the year continued the same way. Easter Break was short but sweet, and then the year was over, and Elles was waiting once again at Platform 9 ¾ with the Evanses, explaining to Petunia about the strange garments that many others were wearing.

As then the train pulled in, and Elles forgot everything else. It stopped, and after searching the descending swarm of bodies for what felt like ages, she caught sight of shiny black hair next to soft red hair.

"I see them! I see them!" She cried giddily, and she ran headfirst into the crowd. She pushed and wriggled her way through families reuniting and friends parting, until she reached Sev and Lily, and leapt into Sev's arms.

"Oomph! You couldn't have just let us get out of this madness before you attacked?" Sev asked jokingly, raising his eyebrow and shaking his head softly. "Honestly, I think you must have planted a tracking charm on me at Easter – there's no way you could've found us so fast otherwise."

Elles just let go, smiled happily at him, and turned to give Lily a big hug.

"Hey Evans!" Sev tensed in the way all too familiar to Elles from the years before they learned to sneak out before their parents remembered them. "Can I have a hug too? I don't think I'll survive the summer without hope that one day, you and –"

"And why do you think I would _want_ you to survive the summer?" Lily let go of Elles and turned to glare icily at a boy with messy black hair and a cocky smile on his lips and in his eyes. Behind him stood a shaggy-haired boy with clever grey eyes and a bored smile that looked practiced – Elles would know. "If you don't come back, all of Hogwarts will be better off. Come on, guys. Let's get out of here." With one last look of loathing at the pair, Lily grabbed her trunk with one hand and Elles with her other, and stormed off towards the end of the platform. Elles could see that Sev wanted to stay a minute and add a few choice words of his own, but his eyes met hers and he settled for a sneer before following quickly. She tried glancing back at the grey-eyed boy, but he had leaned in to say something to the cocky boy. As Lily slowed, Elles guided her back to her family. She and Sev were still fuming, but when Mrs. Evans asked Lily what was wrong, she shook her head.

"Just looking forward to three whole months without prats like James Potter," she said with a tired grin.

* * *

A month later, Elles could almost believe that Sev and Lily had never left. It was like all the years before they got their letters, except that she and Sev ate at the Evanses more often and Petunia smiled tentatively at her sister again. Lily was still refusing to speak with her, but occasionally she would slip up and smile back.

Elles was leaning on Sev's shoulder as Lily reached across him to play with her hair under the weeping willow. Sev and Lily were laughing at something, but Elles wasn't really paying attention. She was more just listening to the gentle sounds of their conversation, sleepy after a particularly unfortunate night for their poor vase. Here, she was safe. Here, she knew that her loved ones were happy. Those two things were all that mattered at the moment, and so she smiled and continued listening to the soft cadences of Lily's and Sev's voices.

"Lily! Severus! Ellesmere!" Mrs. Evans called from far away, most likely her small front yard. "It's time for dinner, and your Hogwarts letters just came in!"

Lily squealed and Sev straightened up. They looked at each other and then down to Elles, who was astonished. She knew that it was coming, but now that the letter was here…well, she was nervous to the point of shock. The other two didn't let her stay frozen though. The each snatched up one of her hands and, running, pulled her towards home.

"Mum! Mum! Where are they? Ahhh! I can't wait to see what our books cover this year, can you Sev?" The trio burst through the front door, Elles and Sev skidding to a stop behind Lily, who had halted directly in front of her mother. "When can we go to Diagon Alley, Mum?"

"Here you are," Mrs. Evans sighed, handing them each their respective letters. "We'll have to wait until Saturday to go to London so your father can drive."

Elles opened her letter gingerly, as if it might catch fire. Her mother occasionally sent Howlers home ahead of her, and Elles was half convinced that Hogwarts had sent her one in place of a true letter to tell her that she had not been accepted. She had imagined it countless times…_"We do not accept students who are afraid of wands." "Your parents had to sign you up, and they didn't. If you show up to the train, we'll have no choice but to hex you until you give up." _Or the worst, _"You are not welcome at Hogwarts. You are a waste of space."_

But no. The letter was open. And it wasn't shrieking or catching fire, it was simply sitting in her hands, drawing her eyes against her will across the tilting calligraphy at the head of the parchment.

_Dear Ms. Snape,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry…_

She quickly skimmed the rest of the letter and turned to the supply list, thunderstruck to actually be going and to never have to be separated from Sev again. Then her eyes caught on the last item in the list. As if this McGonagall person knew that it would stop her short, it was the very last word in the packet. _1 Wand_. She swallowed, and glanced around. Sev and Lily were too busy guessing the contents of _A Defensive Primer Year 2_ to notice that she had gone dead white. Petunia was watching her sister from the kitchen doorway, too distracted by the emotions battling their way across her own face to notice Elles's moment of weakness. Mrs. Evans was putting the beans beside the roast on the table, smiling contentedly at Lily and Sev's excited chatter. Elles took an unsteady breath, and then a steadier one, willing herself to pull it together. Sev turned to her and his small smile faded, his brows furrowing at whatever he saw on his sister's face. She plastered a smile onto her face and turned to the dinner table before he could approach her about it. If she admitted her fears, she knew he would never let her out of her sight, and that would mean him giving up the freedom to be a normal child that Hogwarts offered him. Elles couldn't bear to take that away from him. Anyways, she was eleven years old. That was plenty old enough to look after herself, so she really should be able to deal with her own problems.

* * *

A/N I promise things pick up soon!


	4. A Wand and a Vow

_A Wand and A Vow_

Diagon Alley was as crowded this year as it was last year, but this time even the bright clothes and happy voices of the shoppers couldn't distract Elles from her anxiety. She didn't want a wand. The day after the letters came, she'd even written the McGonagall woman, asking if she could study magic without a wand. Her reply had come the following day, and Elles read it rapidly, her face falling quickly.

_Dear Ms. Snape,_

_I am surprised at your request, as most young witches and wizards are very excited for their first wand. Regardless, it is not for nothing that we require our students to obtain one. Wands are necessary for spells, potions, and all controlled magic. Wandless magic is only possible in children at times of duress or high emotion. While the concept has been studied extensively for its potential benefits in dire situations, scholars agree that it is a defense mechanism in youth, as most witches and wizards outgrow this ability by the time they reach their teenage years. There are exceptions, of course, but even so, the latest known incidence of wandless magic took place when the user was fifteen, and the young witch was quite unstable and was eventually admitted permanently to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries._

_If your request is due to a matter of funds, please know that Hogwarts has a scholarship program for students without means of obtaining essential supplies, such as a wand. Should you need to enter the program, please send a reply owl describing your situation._

_I look forward to meeting you on the first of September._

_Minerva McGonagall  
__Deputy Headmistress__  
_

The letter was now stuffed into a trash bin at Spinner's End, where nobody would find it and discover her reservations – or worse, where Sev wouldn't find it and think that she was asking for handouts behind his back. Elles shuddered to even imagine the look of hurt and shame he would have given her.

So, not seeing another way out, Elles had prepared herself. She squared her shoulders and vowed that no matter what sort of evil inclinations the wand gave her, she would stay good. She would always be kind. She would protect those she loved, and she would never let selfishness get the better of her. She would _not_ become her parents.

"There's Ollivander's." Sev nudged her, pointing out the homey storefront, the only one on the street not advertising its wares in the window.

"Oh yes!" Lily exclaimed, clapping her hands in excitement. "Mom, let's go get Elles's wand!"

"You're gonna like Ollivander, I bet. He's just your kind of loony." Sev smirked.

"Severus, that's rude," Mrs. Evans scolded, shooting Sev a warning look.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Elles asked her brother softly, even more nervous now. Last year she had refused to enter the shop filled to bursting with wands; it was too much like something out of her nightmares.

"Don't listen to him, Elles," Lily chided with a roll of her eyes. "Ollivander is a very sweet old man. Sev obviously can't understand how a person can love his work so much and be so, well, jolly."

"More like clueless and senile," Sev countered. "Sarcasm goes right over his head, and he doesn't stop muttering nonsense. C'mon, you'll see."

The six of them – Petunia had agreed to come this year, about which Elles was ecstatic and Lily appeared…confused – entered Ollivander's. Luckily, the store was empty, or they wouldn't have all fit comfortably amidst the haphazard stacks upon stacks of boxes lining even more stacks shoved up against the walls. A small, elderly man with bright eyes moved spryly around the even more numerous boxes behind the counter to greet them.

"Welcome! Welcome back to you two," He nodded sagely to Sev and Lily, then shifted his glance to look directly at Elles. "Welcome, my dear. Shall we find you a wand?" She nodded, and he grinned. "Well, well…your brother's wand is blackthorn and dragon heartstring, 13 ¼ inches, very firm. Let's start with a family resemblance, shall we? Hmm…try this one."

Elles looked at it. The wood itself was dark and beautiful, but something about the wand seemed ugly, and it reminded her strangely of her Muggle father's face the day he broke Sev's nose. She looked up at the old wandmaker and shook her head, wondering why he associated this…wrongness…with Sev.

"Well come now," Ollivander prodded, though a knowing glint in his eye seemed to approve of her hesitation, "the wand chooses the wizard, or witch as it may be, not the other way around. Give it a flick."

"Ok," Elles mumbled, repeating her vow again and again in her head as she gingerly lifted the wand, careful to touch it as little as possible. It didn't feel right to be touching it at all, but she flicked it anyways. Nothing happened, and Ollivander's smile grew.

"Good, good," he announced as he took it back, his smile making the hairs on the back of Elles's neck stand on end. It was like the man was testing her, weighing what he seemed to see in her against what the wand's reaction apparently told him. "It's no fun when I'm right on the first try. Anyways, that one could have gone on to a rather poor future if matched to a certain type of personality. Good. Hmm…how about this one, elm and unicorn hair, 12 ¾ inches." He brought another box from the wall and set it before Elles. The wand was lighter, and carved in a very pretty pattern around the base. This one did not exude any sort of feeling, good or bad, and, relieved, she dutifully flicked it. Though this one felt perfectly comfortable, nothing happened again. Ollivander paused to study her a little bit more closely, muttering "hmm" and "well" as he thought. After a few minutes, he went back about halfway towards the back of the shop along one of the rows of more nicely stacked boxes. He took down a box and brought it back triumphantly. Before he could say anything, Elles opened the box and grabbed the wand, not bothering to even look at this one. As her hand closed around it, however, she sucked in a breath. It didn't feel evil or wrong or comfortable – it felt like _her_. She flicked for confirmation, and a pulsing glow shot from the tip.

"Very interesting," Ollivander murmured, his eyes narrowed in thought, smiling triumphantly. "Very interesting pair you are indeed, you and your brother. I expect quite great things from the two of you. And of course of your lovely friend, here, but I expect she would do well regardless of the people surrounding her…whereas the two of you…very interesting." Ollivander seemed to come back to himself after a moment and continued in a normal voice, "Cedar with a phoenix feather core, 12 inches, firm with the slightest hint of spring to it. Seven galleons." Sev counted out the coins from his pouch of primarily sickles and knuts, and they left.

"Told you he was loony," Sev muttered. Elles nodded, but she wasn't sure she agreed. What Ollivander had said about her and Sev as compared with Lily made enough sense to her that she now had an uncomfortable knot in her stomach. Lily was strong, and never seemed to need anyone. Elles suspected it was part of why Sev clung to her so tightly; she knew it was part of the reason that she admired the other girl so much. From her friendship with Lily, Elles had learned that she and her brother were closer than most siblings. Each was the other's support through the good times and the bad, but that was a good thing, right? Elles didn't like the sound of where Ollivander was going with the thought, though. To her, his words seemed to imply that without her, Sev would likely turn into their mother – which she feared even more than the thought of the same fate for herself. Was he in trouble? Did _she_ need to protect _him_ now? From what? What could she do that others couldn't – that _Lily_ couldn't? It all sounded like an awful lot of pressure, and Elles wasn't sure she could handle it. She was survivor, just getting by. She was definitely not a hero or a savior. Even if she was, Elles thought in despair, Sev would never let her protect him. He was the older brother, she was the little sister. It was how it had always been and how Elles wanted it to always stay.

They had moved on to the used bookstore that they had found last year while Elles was lost in her thoughts, and she didn't notice when the family scattered inside. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she came back to the present and took stock of her surroundings. Sev was collecting the most battered books he could find, while Lily picked out the newest ones. The Evanses chatted with the middle-aged man behind the counter, and Petunia stood with them stiffly. Elles took a deep breath and began to browse as she waited, trying to distract herself by looking through the titles and running her fingers across the old, but rich, leather spines of the tamer-looking books. She would be using Lily's old books this year to make up for the huge amount that they'd had to spend on her wand and still had yet to spend on her supplies. They had some money set aside; Elles and Sev had been filching coins that their mother brought home for years. They had no idea where she worked, except that it was a wizarding establishment, since she was paid in wizarding coin. Their father hated that his wife brought home useless coins, and in the beginning he would throw whatever she brought home into the fire. Little did he know, goblin-made currency could not be melted in a normal fire, and Sev and Elles scavenged the coins while their parents fought, careful to avoid wayward curses from their mother. The problem came when it occurred to her to spend all of her pay before she came home. Thus, Sev and Elles had a finite amount of money to last them through all of Hogwarts. Sev borrowed what textbooks he could from the professors, sold back the ones he had to buy, and Elles was to use Lily's. It would work until they began taking electives, at least, but Sev always said he'd deal with that when it came.

After the bookstore, they found a pawnshop with used school supplies, and Elles quickly picked out what she needed as Lily, hesitantly, showed Petunia around the store and explained the objects' uses as best as she could.

By the time Elles, Sev, and Lily had bought everything they needed, it was late afternoon and everyone was tired. Sev and Lily pored quietly over their books in the backseat while Petunia rested her head against the rear window and looked to be thinking rather more deeply than was normal for her. Elles, squeezed between Mrs. Evans and the stick shift in the front seat, was examining her wand with wonder. It was a deep, but relatively light, wood, without any fancy carvings at the base. Yet it somehow didn't need decoration – it seemed to hold itself proud and sure for all the world. Elles wished to the core of her being that she could be as confident as her wand seemed to be – but she caught herself; wands were bad, right? She had believed that without question since she was four, and Sev had explained to stay away from wherever their mother pointed her wand…but could something so beautiful truly create the suffering she had always attributed to wands? Could she have been wrong? Was it the people who held the wands – was her mother truly ugly, rather than the owner of an ugly instrument? Or was this simply how the wand planned to get into her head?

* * *

A/N Has anyone else ever wondered about wandless magic?


	5. Departures

_Departures_

The three friends spent the rest of their summer reading and rereading their textbooks. Elles had already read half of Lily's old books, but she felt that she should start over now that she had a wand and could practice the motions, even if she wasn't allowed to actually speak the words to cast the spells. Lily or Sev would occasionally correct her form when they emerged from their own reading and writing long enough to notice the rest of the world – they had been assigned summer essays in all of their classes. All in all, the two months remaining passed quickly and happily, and before Elles could have guessed, it was August 30, and she was packing her things into a trunk that Mr. Evans claimed to have found in a closet. She didn't question it, and though Sev had looked a bit angry, he didn't either.

Sev and Elles met the Evanses early in the morning on the first of September, and the three of them got into the car with their trunks, Lily's owl cage, and Mr. and Mrs. Evans. Petunia stood in the doorway, and right before Mr. Evans pulled away, she raced up to the car and tapped insistently on Lily's window. Mr. Evans stopped the car, and Lily, rather confused, rolled down the window.

"Bye Lily," Petunia said in a rush. Taking everyone by surprise, she then reached her long neck through the window and gave Lily a peck on the cheek. Lily's cheeks pinked, but Petunia flushed a deep red, and ran back into the house, slamming the door behind her. Mr. Evans beamed at his wife and started the car, pulling the rest of the way onto the street and turning toward London. Lily stared after Petunia, mouth agape, until the house was out of sight. She then turned toward Sev with a look of nervous happiness, as if this was too good to be true. He shrugged, his astonishment and confusion clear in his face. If either noticed Elles's huge grin, they paid it no mind.

King's Cross Station looked far more welcoming and exciting now that it held her own passage to Hogwarts, Elles thought. They passed through the station, early enough that they didn't see many other families with owls or other strange luggage or clothes. Sev insisted on running through the wall to Platform 9 ¾ first with Elles, so it was just the two of them when Elles saw the Hogwarts Express for the first time this year. Like King's Cross, the train itself looked different today. The small, cynical voice in the back of Elles's head suggested that it was an effect of the wand wearing off on her already, but Elles pushed the voice back into its corner and whooped in excitement. Sev looked slightly scandalized, but Lily, who'd just come through the gate, giggled and members of the other families scattered about the platform smiled indulgently. Mr. and Mrs. Evans followed through last, and gave their daughter and the Snape children warm hugs goodbye.

"Don't forget to review often," Mr. Evans warned all three of them. "Exams have a way of creeping up on you."

"Don't worry, Dad!" Lily assured him confidently. "Sev and I are two of the best kids in our year, and Elles is easily gonna be the best in hers. Plus, Sev and I study together all the time, and we can help Elles with anything she needs."

"It will be a great way to review even more," Sev added slyly, the hint of a smirk visible.

Elles began to worry – would she be holding back her friends? She'd never been very good at meeting people; even Lily was only her friend because she and Sev became friends. She shook her head, shaking off the thought. Everything would be fine, and if not, well…she'd worry about that later.

"…and Ellesmere, dear," Elles jumped and turned toward Mrs. Evans, who had apparently been talking to them, "I want to hear all about your sorting and classmates in your first letter." Mrs. Evans smiled warmly, and gave Elles one last, great hug. Elles squeezed her back, this woman who had been so much a mother to her without once pushing her to leave her own behind.

"Mr. and Mrs. Evans," Sev said smoothly, "we really should find a compartment while it's still so empty."

"He's right, Mum, Dad," Lily piped up. "We want to get a good one near the front, away from all the troublemakers."

"That's a good idea," Mr. Evans sighed. "Well, off you go. Remember what we said – we'll be expecting regular letters from all three of you – and we'll see you for Christmas."

The three friends promised again, and lugged their trunks off toward the front of the train at the opposite end of the platform. Almost all of the compartments were still empty, so they picked one that was near enough to the prefects' cabin so as to "discourage stupid gits"(Sev's words), but not so near that they wouldn't be too bothered by the constant traffic to and from the prefects. They changed into their robes while the train was still, and waited, chatting companiably. Before long, the sounds of movement and talking got louder and louder, and not long after the train blew its horn and started chugging out of the station. No one had chosen to join them in their compartment; Elles thought that Sev's death glare might have had something to do with that, but who knows? Lily bought some snacks when a witch came by with a cart of candy and she shared them with Sev and Elles. They ate the chocolate frogs and sugar mice first, and then spent the rest of the trip working their way through a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, bickering over flavors and laughing – or more often snickering in Sev's case – when one of them ate something horrible.

Finally, the Hogwarts Express pulled to a stop and the train went into an uproar once more as students all jostled each other to get off first and stay with their friends. Elles had latched onto Sev's hand so as not to lose him – not because she needed his support, of course. She _was _eleven after all.

"Firs' years," a deep, resounding voice called. "Firs' years this way!" Elles shot Sev a surprised look.

"I'm not going with you?" she asked, not believing that neither Sev nor Lily had thought to mention this part of the journey.

"Firs' years to me!"

"No," Sev said simply. "We're going straight in to the Great Hall, but you have to be sorted before you sit down –"

"Each house has its own table, remember?" Lily added.

"–so they take the first years across the lake." Sev continued, as if he hadn't been cut off. "You could call it the scenic route." He leaned his head close to Elles and reached up to squeeze her shoulder. "We'll meet up after the meal, all three of us, no matter where you're sorted. I promise. 'Kay?"

Elles smiled at her brother and nodded. He gave her the smallest of smiles, and it gave her the strength she needed to walk away, to begin her year alone. Maybe she'd make friends this way, she thought. This short separation would be good for that, since she expected that once she was sorted into Slytherin, she and Sev would go back to how they were in Muggle elementary school – going to different classes, but otherwise attached at the hip.

"Firs' years to me now!" Elles looked up at the source of the voice, and sucked in a breath. He was massive. "This all o' yeh, then? Righ', now follow me."

He led the group of first years to the edge of a great lake, lined with small boats. Elles looked around her. The other students seemed to be in various degrees of nervousness, any many looked far worse off than she felt. She at least knew where she'd be sitting tonight.

"Righ' then. Four to a boat, and no rockin' if yeh know what's good for yeh." The big man got into a boat of his own, and pushed off. The boat started moving on its own, and suddenly everyone started getting into the nearest boat, Elles included.

As soon as Elles's boat had collected four passengers, it pushed itself off and started floating towards the castle. Elles looked at her companions. There were two boys and a girl; one of the boys looked vaguely familiar, with slate-grey eyes, stick-straight black hair cut just above his ears, and something aristocratic about his bone structure. This boy had never had his nose broken, and had probably never missed a meal, either; he was slender, but in a healthy way rather than the skin-and-bones way that she and Sev used to be before the Evanses started feeding them regularly. His chin was jutted up and out in an attempt to look superior and confident, but Elles thought he looked horribly nervous just under the surface. The second boy had sleek brown hair, and Elles thought if he was wearing a different expression, he just might be pretty cute. Right now, though, he looked terrified, and kept watching the lake as if he expected it to reach out and grab him. The other girl was freckled and wore her cornfield blond hair in a French braid, and seemed to be the most relaxed of the four passengers. She met Elles's curious gaze with a shy smile.

"You know th-there's a s-squid down there," the scared boy stuttered. Elles almost smacked herself – Sev had told her about the giant squid, but she'd completely forgotten, even with the boy's strange manner.

"A _giant_ squid, actually," the familiar boy drawled, a cruel smile playing across his face. "I hear it used to eat any…unworthy…first years, but some idiot headmaster put a stop to it." His smile was replaced suddenly by a suspiciously innocent expression, eyes drifting off across the black expanse of water beneath them. "Though sometimes, people say, the squid forgets the rules have changed, and snatches a particularly useless first year. Right. Out of. Their boat." The boy was by now grinning maliciously at the other, who had turned stark white and was wobbling dangerously. Elles realized he was about to faint right out of the boat.

"Stop it," she snapped at the bully, and turned to the scared boy. "Don't listen to him. If he was telling the truth, the squid already would have eaten _him_." The other girl snickered at that, and the mean boy looked put out, as if she'd taken away his toy. The other boy looked like he was trying to decide whether or not to believe her.

"Me, unworthy?" the boy sneered. "I'm a Black. I can trace my lineage back more generations than you can count."

Elles realized _that_ was why he looked so familiar – Lily had mentioned a Black several times; he was one of her tormentor's accomplices, and he must have been the bored-looking boy standing behind Potter in the train station in June. From the stories, Sev _really_ didn't seem to like him.

"Well," Elles said, matching his snotty tone and raising an eyebrow superciliously at him, "I have no doubt that if your family is really so wonderful as you seem to thing, you will prove yourself a disgrace, just like your brother." She wasn't sure that this jerk would consider the other Black a disgrace (she got the feeling that it just wasn't a very nice family), or if they were even brothers.

Black went ashen, and his eyes widened to the size of galleons. _I guess that hit a nerve_, Elles thought with surprise. The other two kids watched with curiosity.

"I will never, _never_ disgrace my family the way my _brother_" this word was spit out like bad milk "did," Black whispered with a hardness that surprised Elles even further.

The boat was quiet for a minute. The quiet two seemed to be waiting for Elles and Black to go at it again, but they sat there in an awkward silence. Elles felt bad; just one year ago, Petunia would have spoken that way about Lily, and Elles knew both sisters had been deeply pained by the rift between them.

"My name's Ellesmere Snape," Elles finally said, offering her hand and a gentle half smile in peace. "I didn't mean any harm – I didn't realize you were…angry…with your brother. You _were_ being a git."

"Regulus Black," he answered, enunciating each syllable almost sarcastically. He chose not to respond to the rest of her small speech, and continued to sit in silence, brooding. Elles noticed that some of his confidence had been stripped off, revealing his anxiety more clearly. _He really is nervous about disgracing his family_, she realized with a start.

"I'm Rose Abbott," the other girl offered suddenly. "Where are you all hoping to be sorted?"

"Slytherin," Black and Elles answered immediately. They looked at each other in surprise.

"Ravenclaw," the other boy squeaked, still obviously shaken. "My name's Robert Greenly, by the way."

"And where do you think you're going?" Elles asked the girl, Abbott, though she was much more curious about the other Slytherin.

"Well, my whole family's been in Hufflepuff, but I'm a bit of a black sheep, I suppose, so I don't really know if it's right for me." Black snorted in derision at the mention of Hufflepuff, much like Sev had when Lily explained the houses the year before. _Slytherin and Hufflepuff must be rival houses,_ Elles decided.

"Why Slytherin?" Elles asked Black quietly.

He looked at her impatiently. "Because it's the noblest of the four houses, of course. And Slytherins are clever, and they know how to get what they want." He paused before adding quietly, "And it's my family's house. I _can't _go anywhere else." He turned away, but glanced back and blushed as he realized she was watching him with concern. "Well? Why do you want Slytherin? Trying to make it to the top?"

"My brother's a Slytherin," she said simply. He looked at her, waiting for more, but at that moment the boat bumped up against the edge of the lake. Greenly jumped about a mile into the air, but luckily the boat had grounded itself enough that it only wobbled slightly when he landed. He scrambled off as quickly as he could, still shaking from fright. The rest of the little group followed him back into the larger group of first years gathering around the big man.

"That all o' yeh? Good. Now follow me, we're almos' there." He turned and strode towards the castle. Elles had to nearly jog to keep up with his ridiculously long strides, but so did everyone else, she noticed.

The man led them through a great set of doors into the castle, and Elles could hear the sounds of laughter and voices through another magnificent doorway, but the man stopped outside of them. A woman that Elles hadn't even noticed stepped out next to their guide.

"Thank you, Rubeus, I will take it from here." She was thin and all stern angles, this woman. Elles found something about her sharp eyes and firm manner comforting, and wondered if her emerald robes meant she was a Slytherin when she was a student. "My name is Professor McGonagall, and I will running your sorting. You will form a single file line and follow me to the front of the room. Once there, I will call each of your names for sorting and once sorted, you will go to sit with your house. Your house will act as your family throughout your seven years here at Hogwarts." She looked across the group, daring them to mess up. "Come."

Elles was shuffled into line as the rest of the first years jostled for a spot in the middle, and she lost sight of her companions from the lake. She swallowed. _Just as I was making friends_, she thought. They walked into the massive hall – the Great Hall, Elles realized – and the loud talking died down into loud whispers. Elles walked in her line through the center of the hall, and noted with disappointment that their line was between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables, and she couldn't see the Slytherin or Gryffindor tables at all over the tall heads of the older students. Professor McGonagall led them to the very front of the hall, in front of the raised table of professors. She pulled out a three-legged stool and placed a mangy old hat on it. The whispers stopped immediately, and everyone looked like they were waiting for something. Elles wasn't paying attention though; she finally had a good view of all four tables, and she wanted to find Sev.

_"Here we are, back again…"_ Elles jumped, as did many other first years, as the hat opened at the brim and began to sing. After a moment, however, Elles turned back to the task at hand: find Sev, so she would know where to go to sit. And maybe for a bit of reassurance. Maybe…but mostly so she wouldn't look silly searching for him after she was sorted, she told herself. There! Elles beamed at her brother, trying to signal to him how excited she was to be _so close_. He smirked back lazily, and that gave her all the reassurance she needed to fight off her nerves.

The hall burst into applause, and Elles realized that the song must have ended. _About time_, she thought. McGonagall stepped forward again, and cleared her throat.

"Abbott, Rose!" The blond girl from the boat walked purposefully up to the stool and sat down amid titters from the Hufflepuff table. McGonagall placed the hat on her head, and silence returned as everyone waited. A long moment later,

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat roared, and the Gryffindor table jumped out of their seats, clapping and whooping as Abbott scooted off the stool and went to sit with them, smiling broadly.

"Black, Regulus!" Elles looked around for the boy, and found him a ways behind her. He strolled casually up to the stool, his head held high, his nervousness visible only in his eyes. The hat barely touched his head when it shouted,

"SLYTHERIN!" Elles grinned for him, and watched as Sev joined with the rest of his house to welcome Black into their ranks. She watched them for a while, not paying attention to all of the unfamiliar names. She did catch Greenly, Robert being sent to Ravenclaw, and she smiled for him as well.

"Snape, Ellesmere!" Elles took a breath and walked quickly to the stool, nearly knocking it over in her haste to get up onto it. McGonagall's lips twitched, and then Elles couldn't see anything as the brim of the hat came down over her eyes.

_Hmm…plenty of loyalty…you prize your friendships, don't you? _Elles was surprised – the hat seemed to be talking to her! _Well of course I'm talking to you. Didn't you listen to my song – no, you didn't…you were watching the Slytherins, your brother. That's where you want to be, eh? Hmph, I don't know about that…_Elles was horrified at the turn this was taking; she had to be in Slytherin! _Why? _Sev needed her. Ollivander said her brother needed her, and his words had stuck with him. She needed to be there for him. _Hmm. Slytherin is a fine house, and it does claim to understand a sense of duty and loyalty to family, but I think you would be surprised. Such feelings in Slytherin stem from a history of family favors, whereas for you it is honest compassion. You would not be nearly as happy there as you would be in Hufflepuff or Gryffindor. A Slytherin thinks first of his own interests; among others who think similarly they thrive without trampling each other, but you…you would likely be taken advantage of._ Elles didn't care. She could deal with gits for a few years if it meant that Sev wouldn't turn into their parents – she shuddered at the horror that she had taken from Ollivander's words. _Such selflessness and courage is admirable. You should be proud of yourself_. Elles was taken aback; she had never thought about herself that way, and it felt good. She found herself smiling a little despite herself, and then…_well, _there_ we finally have it._

"GRYFFINDOR!"


	6. First Steps

_First Steps_

Elles froze, her smile turning to a horrified, wide-eyed grimace as she processed the hat's sick trick. She couldn't move, and there was a roaring in her ears that had nothing to do with the red and gold table's cheers. How could this have happened? How could the hat do this to her – to _Sev?_

Apparently realizing that Elles wasn't about to do anything, McGonagall plucked the hat off of her head and smiled gently. Her entire face transformed, and a detached part of Elles thought she'd make a wonderful grandmother.

"It's alright, dear, siblings _do _end up in different houses, and it turns out just fine, I promise." Still smiling kindly, McGonagall turned Elles towards Gryffindor table, but the girl quickly looked back to Slytherin, to Sev. She met his eyes, and he gave her a sad shrug, mouthing the word "_after_." She nodded and forced her legs to walk her towards her new house. His words came back to her, _"no matter where you're sorted."_ _Had he guessed? Has he always known that there was something wrong with me? Is this the beginning of what Ollivander predicted would happen?_ Elles shivered.

"Are you alright?" Lily's voice came through Elles's thoughts, and she realized that she had made it to the Gryffindor table. She sat, and just looked at Lily. Of course _I'm not alright_, she wanted to scream. "You know, Sev and I hang out all the time, and we're not in the same house. It'll be fine! You wouldn't have classes with him anyways, and there are plenty of places around the castle where all the houses hang out. And it's not like you're totally alone." Lily smiled hopefully at Elles, and the younger girl couldn't help but smile back, just a little. Lily's optimism was infectious that way, and anyways, Elles didn't want to offend her. It was true, after all. She _wasn't_ alone – she had her other best friend with her, right here.

Nonetheless, Elles spent the next ten or so minutes focusing on not freaking out.

"Hey Snape," Elles turned to the quiet voice and found herself looking into Abbott's clear eyes. "I'm glad you ended up in Gryffindor. You were brave on the boat, and I'm not sure I would have believed the Sorting Hat if it'd put you anywhere else."

"Er, thanks," Elles replied, not really sure what to say to that. Apparently that was fine, though, because the blond girl smiled and walked back to her seat down farther towards the other end of the table.

The meal continued uneventfully, but Abbott's words left Elles feeling slightly more comfortable with her sorting. As everyone was finishing up, the food vanished, and the man at the center of the professors' table stood and the hall quieted. Elles recognized him from the Chocolate Frog cards: Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. In person, she thought he looked awfully old to be running an entire school, and his smile looked far too mischievous to discipline wayward students. Elles would have much rather had McGonagall in charge; no one would dare cross her. As Elles analyzed the man, he spoke about someplace called the Forbidden Forest and some new caretaker who wanted to ban dungbombs. Her eyes and thoughts drifted to the other professors at the table, but before she could catch more than a fleeting impression, the entire hall burst into noise and motion. She blinked, and looked to Lily.

"C'mon," Lily whispered, taking Elles's hand. "I already got the new password from Dorcas Meadows, so we just need to slip away to meet Sev."

Elles nodded in understanding and let Lily pull her out of the hall, down a narrow hallway away from the rest of the chaos, and into an empty classroom. Sev had somehow beaten them here, and was sitting tensely in a desk chair. At their entrance, however, he jumped up towards them.

"Are you ok? What happened? What was that idiot hat thinking?" Sev spewed in one angry breath, which he then caught and looked guiltily at Lily. "I mean, it could be worse. Gryffindor's a good house…"

"Oh, give it up, Sev," Lily said crossly. "We both know you hate Gryffindor." Elles hadn't known that, and now her shoulders sagged.

"I'm so sorry Sev," she mumbled distraughtly. "I _told_ the hat I wanted to go to Slytherin, but…" Elles trailed off, realizing that she didn't want to tell him about how the hat had tricked her, since that would involve confessing that for a moment she actually did want to go to Gryffindor…

"Idiot, stupid, stupid hat!" Sev shook his head in disgust. He seemed to have taken her unfinished sentence to mean that the hat placed her in Gryffindor against her will, and Elles chose not to correct him. It _was_ mostly against her will, wasn't it?

"Severus and Ellesmere Snape," Lily snapped. "This is _not_ the end of the world. Sev, you and I are best friends and we hang out all the time, despite being in different houses. It'll be no different with Elles. We'll all still hang out, and you two will still see each other every day." She paused to look her two friends in the eyes before continuing. "And plus, this is a good chance for Elles to meet more friends. I mean, honestly, if she'd ended up in Slytherin the two of you would have been too inseparable to make – and keep," she glared at Sev,"– your own friends."

"I have friends!" Elles cut in indignantly. "I have you and Sev! What's wrong with just having a few close friends?"

"Nothing," Lily sighed, "but you might actually meet other nice people if you tried, and then you could have a few more good friends. What are you gonna do when Sev and I graduate?"

Elles felt like Lily had smacked her. Turning to Sev, she saw that he was glaring reproachfully at Lily, who looked confused.

"Listen, Elles," Sev said, turning back to her. "You're my sister. That's all there is to it. You may be in Gryffindor, but you'll always be a Snape, and that's what counts. We can meet up in the library after classes tomorrow. Lily and I usually study there until dinner, so if you _do_ want to hang out with your classmates, go ahead, but you can also come meet us there if you want." He glared at Lily when he mentioned her, as if daring her to argue. She didn't, and actually looked rather sorry. That gratified Elles a little; Lily and Petunia used to be close, but they hadn't known what it was like to have no one else, so Lily didn't always get how strongly Elles and Sev felt about their friendships.

"Thanks, Sev," Elles said, giving him a wide smile and a hug. "I think I'll go see my common room, now – if you're ready to go, I mean," she added, turning to Lily.

"Yeah, we should all get back to our common rooms before we get caught. I'd rather not get detention on our first night back." Lily laughed at the thought and gave Sev a hug of her own. The three of them walked out and went together to the larger hall. Here, Sev left them, heading to another hall that angled downwards. Lily led Elles up to their right. Elles concentrated on remembering their path so that she could get back down to the Great Hall for breakfast, but she was sure she'd get lost regardless.

After a few minutes, Lily stopped in front of a portrait of a giant of a woman.

"Get lost, dearie?" the woman asked suspiciously.

"Flobberworm," Lily announced. Elles wondered what was wrong with her – but then the portrait swung forward to reveal a tunnel. Lily stepped in first, and the portrait closed after Elles. "That's the Fat Lady; she guards the entrance to Gryffindor Tower."

A moment later, the two girls stepped out of the tunnel and Elles gasped. Gryffindor Tower was a mass of warmth, all red and gold. Students were everywhere, in the various couches and chairs, sprawled across the floor, even sitting on the heavy oak desks.

"Evans!" A boy's voice called, full of excitement and happiness. Lily groaned, and Elles saw the messy-haired boy remembered from the station walk quickly towards them, a confident grin on his face. He obviously had some sort of reality problem, since Elles could tell from one interaction that Lily detested him, yet he, after many, had not gotten that detail through his head. "Evans, I was worried about you when you didn't come back with everyone. Where've you been?"

"Go away, Potter," Lily growled. Her eyes could have burned a hole through a brick wall, but had no effect on Potter's grin. _He must be even thicker than I thought_, Elle noted with surprise. She had already thought him pretty thickheaded.

"Aw, Evans, aren't you gonna give me a shot this year?" He was trying for a cherubic face, but it looked more like a gremlin trying to pass as innocent. "I've changed. I really have."

"It's true, Evans," a voice snipped from near the fireplace. Elles looked over, and found the source to be the grey-eyed friend from the station. The older Black brother. The one Regulus was so disgusted by. "He hasn't hexed a single Slytherin in months."

"Or, or a single first year!" squeaked a voice, which Elles pinned down to a chubby boy near Black who looked like he was about to pee himself with excitement.

Black sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Nice going, Peter. You've already forgotten about that little brat that tried to sit with us."

"Oh." The boy named Peter looked crestfallen.

Lily had been next to Elles watching the scene unfold, and snorted derisively. "You've changed, huh?" She rolled her eyes and stomped away. Elles hurried to follow, forcing herself not to glance back at the hex-happy boys. _I will not end up like that,_ she reminded herself.

"So anyways, those stairs lead to the girls' dormitories, and the other ones lead to the boys'. All the doors are labeled by year." She paused and looked hesitantly at Elles. "I'm gonna go hang out with some girlfriends for a bit before bed. Do you want to meet them?" Elles realized that after the earlier drama, Lily was worried that this would hurt Elles's feelings.

"Go ahead," Elles said. "I'd like to put away my things before bed anyways."

Lily smiled gratefully and, after a quick hug goodnight, skipped off to a group of second year girls. Elles climbed the stairs, found her room, and walked in. Several other girls were already there, and Elles recognized Abbott.

"Hi!" a bubbly girl with light brown hair and a ruddy complexion called out. "I'm Mary Finnigan. What's your name?"

"Elles Snape," Elles answered.

"Nice to meet you!" said a pretty girl with a round face and long, dark hair. "My name's Alberta Brooks."

"Yeah, nice to meet you!" Mary chimed in. Elles couldn't help but smile at the girls' friendliness.

"And I'm Cynthia Wood," a third girl announced. Her face was covered in freckles and her dirty blond hair was cut short.

"Nice to meet all of you, too. And nice to see you again, Rose," Elles added to her friend from the boat, hoping that switching to first names wasn't strange…but Rose brightened up immediately. Elles let out a relieved breath. She had met Lily so young that they didn't even know each other's last names until much later on, so she didn't really know how these things worked. Lily was right; she _did_ have to make some of her own friends, if for no other reason than to learn how it worked.

* * *

The following morning, Elles set off for the breakfast with Rose, Mary, Cynthia and Alberta, and between the five of them they were able to find the Great Hall without too much trouble. They were munching on breakfast rolls and jam when a girl in Gryffindor robes and a badge with a "P" on it came over to them. _A prefect_, Elles remembered.

"Hello, girls," she said. "Here are your schedules. By sure to get to class on time or we'll lose house points." She then walked to the next cluster of bleary-eyed students and repeated the process.

Rose groaned and continued eating as the rest of the classmates looked over their schedules.

"Ooo Charms first thing today!" Mary cooed "Do you think we'll learn tickle charms? My cousins use that on me _all the time_. They think it's cute."

"Ugh but it's with Ravenclaws. They're all so smart, we'll look like morons next to them," Cynthia grumbled.

"Wait," Elles asked slowly, confused, "you mean you haven't read the textbook yet? We don't learn tickle charms. Not this year, anyways."

All four girls turned to stare at Elles, even Rose pausing mid-bite. _But Sev and Lily read theirs, too!_ Elles blushed. _So much for friends…_

"Hey, do you guys know how to get to Charms?" The girls shifted their stares to the boy who dared ask them a question.

"No, we're first years, too," Alberta finally answered.

"Maybe _she_ knows," Cynthia said, looking suspiciously at Elles. "She probably memorized a map in between _textbooks_." Elles blushed even deeper.

"No, I didn't – I don't know where it is," Elles muttered.

"'Course she didn't memorize a map," the boy said with an easy laugh. "There isn't one. _Hogwarts: A History_ says that the Founders never drew one up, you know, for security reasons. All the schools have always been so secretive, it makes sense." All five girls, Elles included, stared, mouths agape. After a moment, Rose burst out laughing, which tipped Elles into a fit of giggles as well. The poor boy watched them in confusion. "What did I say?"

"Have you…_haha_…read your – _ahaha_ – textbooks already?" Rose managed to get out.

"Because I have…_hehe_…and they all thought I was mad –" Elles tried to explain.

"But _you're even loonier!_" Rose hooted.

"Rose! He's not loony," Elles reproached, finally getting ahold of herself.

"Well of course _you_ would say that," Rose said with a smile and a shake of her head. "That's it. I'm going to help you two not be loony, and you're gonna help me with my homework."

Elles rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. _I can do this._ "My name's Elles, and these are Rose, Cynthia, Mary, and Alberta," she said, pointing out each girl to the boy, who was still standing there watching with an amused look on his face.

"Sebastian," he replied, holding out his hand to Elles and nodding to the other girls. He sat down next to her and drummed the table with his fingers. "So I suppose this means that we're in trouble, huh?"

Elles smiled. As long as Rose and Sebastian were laughing with her, she couldn't disagree more.

* * *

A/N FYI, this is about the chapter length I'm aiming for from now on.


	7. The Attack

_The Attack_

Several weeks passed, and Elles was happier than she had ever been. Every evening after dinner, Elles would meet up with Sev and Lily. Usually they found an empty classroom and hung out there, catching each other up on their days and simply talking. Elles would usually spend the time resting her head on Sev's bony shoulder, his hand casually slung around her. Sometimes they would go exploring and chat with portraits (Elles's idea). These evenings relaxed her more than anything else did, and it was a huge relief knowing that she wouldn't lose her brother because of some silly sorting.

The rest of Elles's days were spent with Sebastian and Rose. Sebastian, like her, was intrigued by the coursework and loved to read. After their work was done, Elles could usually find him curled up in an armchair with a library book. He had turned out to be particularly interested in magical creatures, so despite their inability to take Care of Magical Creatures, Sebastian had already gone through _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ and _Magical Beings Volume 1: Centaurs – Goblins_ through _Volume 3: Merpeople – Veela_, which he had only just finished. He was Muggleborn, and had told Elles that the _Magical Beings _set was a terrifically interesting way to study wizarding society. After his numerous rants on their society's deep-seated supremacist leanings, Elles believed him.

Elles tended toward books on dark magic and transfiguration. She hadn't totally given up on her wand theory, but the wandlore book she tried first gave her a detention. Or at least, the book so frustrated Elles with its poetic musings on woods, lengths, and cores that she ended up chucking it across the library in pure vexation. Madame Pince didn't appreciate the gesture, and assigned Elles to dust the restricted section. It wasn't all that bad, aside from the occasional shriek or scream of, "THAT TICKLES, YOU WORTHLESS FIEND!" and Elles noticed that dark arts books were much more common than wandlore books. After that, she mostly searched dark magic books instead, waiting for them to reference an origin in wands, and occasionally took a break to read transfiguration texts for fun.

Rose had no interest in books beyond finding content for her essays – most of which she got from talking to Sebastian and Elles, anyways – but she was happy to sit with them in the library and browse her latest copy of _Seeker Weekly_, and her dry sense of humor was all that had kept the trio going the previous week, when they were studying like madmen for their first transfiguration exam. Her attachment to the magazine was actually becoming amusing to Elles; as the tryout date approached, Rose looked more and more like Elles and Sebastian had before the exam.

"Rupert Thesden says that the best Chasers can hit a target _with their eyes closed!_" Rose groaned and slumped in her chair.

"Who does he play for?" Elles asked without looking up from _Horrid Magics and Their Creation_.

"The Falmouth Falcons," Sebastian answered immediately. He had been interested in Quidditch ever since Rose explained the game to him, and his near-photographic memory now served to remember every statistic and player Rose mentioned to him.

"_And_ he's one of the best Chasers in all of England! He's played in the past three World Cups." The blond girl sighed morosely. "It's hopeless…"

"If you give up on me now, I may have to kill you," Sebastian said flatly. "You've gone and gotten me all excited about the game, so now you have to see this thing through with me."

"If any first years can make it, you guys can," Elles encouraged, glancing up to Rose.

The other girl met her gaze with a glare. "That'd be sweet of you…except that I'm pretty sure you know that no first year has made the team in 73 years."

Sebastian snorted and Elles's lips twitched as she tried to keep her face innocent. Rose sighed again and threw her hands up in exasperation.

"What do you want? Do you _want _me to break your face?"

"Sure, if it would make you feel better, go ahead." Elles let herself smile widely now, daring her friend to act on her words.

Rose just rolled her eyes and smirked at Elles. Her violent talk had shocked Elles at first, reminding her disturbingly of her parents, but nearly a month with her friend had stopped Elles from jerking at every verbal jab and threatened punch thrown at her. She eased her grin into a smaller, more natural smile as she thought about it. She liked her tougher skin, and she loved that Rose clearly didn't take it easy on her; neither of her friends knew about her home life, and she liked it that way. For all that Lily was like a sister to her, she sometimes hated how carefully the older girl sometimes treated her, like she would break with the wrong word. _Though that is a bit true_, Elles thought. _But it _is _awfully nice to be treated like everyone else_…

"Earth to Elles?" Sebastian was looking at her with his brows raised, but his eyes had an understanding glow to them. "We're gonna miss dinner if we stay here much longer."

"Good call," Elles said with an apologetic grimace. "Sorry about that."

"It's all good," Sebastian said brightly. "Where were you today?"

Elles had once admitted to be daydreaming about how to break into Durmstrang's library after a particularly frustrating dead end in her dark-magic-comes-from-wands research, and since then Sebastian often asked her where she had been "traveling" when she lost herself in thought.

"Right here," she said with a truly happy smile. "I was just thinking about how at first I was convinced that Rose was a psychopath."

Sebastian burst out laughing, and Rose jutted out her chin and pursed her lips with a "hmph," pointedly choosing not to look over at her friends. This sent Sebastian into further chuckles, and Elles let out a snicker as well. Rose's mouth twitched, and then she was laughing with them.

After dinner, Rose and Sebastian left for the common room and Elles went to find Sev and Lily. She found Lily in the third classroom she tried, doodling in the air with her wand.

"Hi Lily! How do you do that?" Elles asked, intently watching the slender golden lines left by Lily's wand.

"It's a Dessinus Charm. Here, just lift your wand and flick it forward, like this, and say _Dessino_." Lily grinned at Elles. "Now you can draw!"

Elles was enthralled by the prospect, and immediately set out to draw Hogwarts Castle.

"What's that?" Lily giggled.

"Hogwarts!" Elles said indignantly.

"Looks like a pitchfork."

"Oh yeah? And what's _that_ supposed to be? A squid?"

"That's Professor Flitwick! Those are shadows!"

"Suuuure….Wait, what's a pitchfork?"

Lily paused, and then both girls started roaring with laughter. Pretty soon they were both on the floor, leaning against each other, rocking with silent laughs and trying to hold the aches in their sides.

"W-wait," Elles wheezed finally, "Sev's still not here yet. Did he say anything to you?"

"No," Lily said slowly, her eyes growing worried. "Do you think something happened?"

Elles was already getting up, and turned to hurriedly pull Lily up before walking quickly into the corridor. She turned toward the Great Hall, figuring their best bet was to try to retrace Sev's most likely path until they found him. Suddenly Elles stopped, causing Lily to bump into her and nearly making them both lose balance. Elles put a finger to her lips and looked around. Lily stilled and mirrored Elles.

Soft scuffling sounds came from a seldom-used corridor on their right. Elles darted toward the noise and gasped. Sev was on the ground with his arms stiffly at his sides and his legs together, covered in huge boils. He glanced up at her and she had to bite her lip to keep from bursting into tears at the utter humiliation in those familiar dark eyes. Another small gasp came from behind Elles as Lily caught up. Sev turned his eyes away, and the girls realized that he was unable to get up. _That was the scuffling noise_, Elles realized in horror, _he's under some kind of binding spell_.

"Elles, go back to the common room," Lily said quietly but firmly.

Elles shook her head, still staring at her brother. _Her big brother_. If she opened her mouth to refuse, she would cry, and Sev would feel even worse. _If that was even possible_…

"Elles. Go. I'm bigger, I can carry him to the hospital wing. Go back," she nearly hissed.

The younger girl looked at her in surprise. That was Lily's one tone that Elles had learned not to cross, but she was about to – this was _her _brother after all! _Her brother that these villains – _Elles stopped that thought as she realized she knew exactly who had done this. She sent Sev one last, determined look before she turned and nearly ran away, but he was still staring resolutely at the stone beneath his face.

Elles slammed into the common room and searched for the culprits through the red haze that had been building in front of her eyes. _There_.

"EXCORIO! INVERTOGENUM! REDACTUM SKULLUS!" Elles snarled as she marched toward the boys sitting in front of the fire, waving her wand to cast a hex at Potter, then Black, and then another one at Potter.

"Protego!" both boys shouted, dodging the hexes for good measure. Their other two friends, Lupin and Pettigrew, along with everyone in the immediate vicinity, scrambled quickly out of range.

"SARDINA! URO USTOLO! UNGUIS RAPIDO!"

Potter yelped as one of Elles's hexes finally hit its mark, leaving a nasty welt across his face as if he'd gotten in the way of a stream of acid. She raised her wand again –

"Expelliarmus!"

– and it flew out of her grip and into Black's outstretched hand. He looked more shocked than angry, though he _did_ look angry. Livid, even. The red haze blocked that detail from Elles's brain, though, and she started shouting at him as he strode tensely toward her, his teeth gritted with the effort of holding himself back.

"What the _HELL_ is your problem?!" She yelled, easily matching his anger ounce for ounce. "What do you have against Sev? He's a _good person!_"

"That's what this is about? That slimy little git?" Black barked out a strangled laugh. "He _exists_, that's what he's done! He's a greasy Slytherin –"

Elles made an angry sound, partway between a scoff and a strangled laugh. "There are _actual _evil people in Slytherin. Avery, Mulciber – _they're evil_. But _my brother is NOT_! How does _that make sense to you,_ you bloody piece of shit?!" Elles was shrieking now. Some part of her cringed, recognizing the words that she had just uttered as the ones she'd woken up to countless mornings and nights at Spinner's End, but the angry part of her couldn't process anything but her fury.

Black's eyes shifted to Elles's shoulder, and their anger quickly drained, replaced by wide-eyed uncertainty. He reached out and brushed the edge of her collarbone. Elles jumped. She realized she must have been shaking with anger, hard enough to shift her robes slightly; normally her scar was well-covered, but she felt Black's fingertips tracing the silvery line. She immediately slapped his hand away. He raised his eyes back to hers and, holding her gaze steadily, pulled down the top of his own robes, showing her an identical scar across his chest.

"I had no idea," he whispered, his voice rough. "I am so sorry. I didn't think, at all."

"Mine wasn't on purpose," Elles whipped back at him. His expression cracked, it dawned on her that this boy was just as fragile as she was, that he too could be destroyed with one well-placed blow. The fact that she was even able to make that blow proved how much he had opened himself up to her in these last unexpected moments. Elles's epiphany took barely a moment, and immediately she rushed out words, raw with meaning, that she hoped would take back the pain of her last strike. "It would have almost been better if it was, though. She's always looked right through me, so I guess she thought the curse would go through me, too."

Elles's explanation and tone worked. Black nodded in understanding and pulled himself together. _He may be despicable, but _no one_ deserves to be smashed to bits like that_, Elles thought to herself. And she realized, he _did_ seem to mean what he said…_Maybe cruelty is his way of coping_, Elles thought. Sev had had several moments like that, but Elles's disappointment had mostly shamed him out of that habit. She blinked. _Is that what Ollivander could have meant? That without me, Sev would have let himself become cruel like Black?_

"I'm sorry," Black murmured. His voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "No one should ever have to live like that."

Elles looked at him in surprise. When Lily said things like that, it annoyed her. She hated pity – but Black didn't seem to be pitying her. In fact, it felt more as though he was commiserating with her. Watching the boy's expression match her own, Elles's surprise grew, and was joined by a fair bit of wonder.

"Elles, er," Elles heard Sebastian mumble from a few yards away. She looked toward the voice to see her friend approaching her. His steps and demeanor were cautious, as though he expected her to turn and fire off a hex at him if he moved too quickly or looked too threatening, but he was the only one in the common room attempting to diffuse the situation. "are you okay?"

Elles peeked back once more at Black, who hadn't so much as glanced at Sebastian and continued to watch her with clear interest.

"Yes, I am," she reassured Sebastian. "And I'm done hexing people, so you don't need to watch me like that. Though," she qualified, narrowing her eyes at Black and weighing him up distrustfully, exaggerating her tone and gesture to ensure that he took note, "you really should think about your choices of victims from now on. You know, actually make sure they _deserve_ it."

She practically spit out the last line, trying to infuse in it as much scorn and disdain as possible in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, she could shame _this_ broken boy into some sense as she had done with her brother. Sebastian grabbed her arm and pulled her away.

"Please don't start hexing people again," he begged under his breath. "I think they've learned their lesson. I really do."

"I think one of them just might have," Elles murmured, and she finally turned away from Black's intense, strange gaze.

* * *

A/N Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I wanted this chapter to include what I've now decided has to wait until the next, and it just wasn't working. So on the upside, the next chapter's pretty far along! Also, let me know if there's anything (grammatically, stylistically, thematically, plotwise, whatever) that you'd like me to work on. I'd love to get better, and the best critics _are_ writers ;)


	8. Aftermath

_Aftermath_

"Seriously?" Rose whined. "I go to bed early _one night_ and Elles takes down the kings of Gryffindor? Ugh, I have the worst luck ever. Or else you planned this."

It had been about twelve hours since Elles hexed Potter and shrieked at Black, and Sebastian had just told Rose the entire (as he saw it) story in the Great Hall. From the looks of awe aimed in her direction from all over the hall, Elles guessed that Rose might just be the very last person in the school to hear what happened. The attention was more than a little disgruntling, and Elles couldn't help but wonder how Potter, Black, and Lupin could live with this on a day-to-day basis. Pettigrew didn't even cross her thoughts, but then, she had never noticed anyone's attention on him, even while surrounded by his infamous friends.

"Yeah, Rose," Elles muttered sarcastically, quietly enough so only her friends could hear. "I drugged your drink with Sleeping Potion and then just begged Potter to hex my brother so I could try – and mostly fail, I might add – to hex him and Black while you slept."

"Come on, you know what I mean," Rose mumbled sheepishly as she quickly pinked. "I'm just sorry that I didn't get to see sweet, easygoing Elles get honestly furious." She frowned and added thoughtfully, "I don't think I've ever seen you show that much emotion, and I feel like that might've been my only chance. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," Sebastian agreed softly.

Elles suddenly found her food immensely interesting, and concentrated on pushing it around with her fork, but soon she was reminded of the wand drawings she and Lily made before they found Sev, and she suddenly jabbed an egg and stuffed it into her mouth. Soon she had forced down a muffin and glass of tea as well, and grumbling a quick "let's go" to her friends, shoved herself away from the table and stomped out of the Great Hall. Sebastian and Rose looked at each other, sighed, and followed Elles without comment.

The rest of the day progressed in much the same manner. Students of all years whispered behind their hands in hallways as they watched Elles pass, and their fellow first years stared at her in open awe during classes. Slughorn, their Potions professor, seemed to think that Elles's classmates had finally realized how exceptional a student she was, and made comments accordingly throughout the period. McGonagall, however, was less accepting in Transfiguration class.

"Macmillan!" she snapped finally. "Did Ms. Snape slip a love potion in your pumpkin juice this morning?"

"Of course not, Professor!" the brown-haired Hufflepuff exclaimed in horror, blushing deeply.

Elles turned a dark red, enriched noticeably with a sickly green. She wanted to disappear – no, she had wanted to disappear all day. Now she wanted to wither away into a raisin. And maybe find her way under a student's boot for good measure.

"Then perhaps you might enlighten me as to why you seem to have developed, overnight, such a keen interest in Ms. Snape."

"N-no reason, Professor," Macmillan mumbled, looking down at his notes, which he shuffled uncomfortably.

"Very well then," McGonagall said icily, "I would appreciate you staring at Ms. Snape for 'no reason' on your own time, and instead ask that you pay attention to my class."

While supposedly reprimanding Macmillan, the Transfiguration turned her stony gaze to each student who had shown any interest in Elles during the period. Elles was relieved to notice that after that, nobody so much as peeked at her for the rest of the class. She sighed in disappointment when McGonagall dismissed them, and trudged to the Great Hall for lunch.

"Well," Sebastian said cheerfully, "I think McGonagall put some sense into those drooling morons. That's good, yeah?"

"And nothing can be worse than Potions this morning," Rose continued on the thought with a slight shudder, "so really, it's all uphill from here!"

Elles sighed. "Thank God. I'm starting to think I might just take my wand and jab the next wide eye I see staring at me."

They entered the familiar dull roar of the Great Hall and Elles nearly swooned in relief. People glanced up at her curiously, but overall, she was finally ignored. She, Rose, and Sebastian sat down at their usual place almost halfway down the table – first years didn't have much choice at dinner, when the entire table was crowded, but for breakfast lunch, they sat where they liked – and dug in quietly, worn out from the morning of fending off ogles and gossip.

About five minutes later, a sudden hush swept the hall, and the silence that Elles had so dreaded at her entrance took hold. Confused, she looked around, and saw everyone staring at her in anticipation.

"What, did they just notice we're here?" Elles muttered to Rose.

"Umm, Elles? _Look._" Rose wasn't looking at Elles, or at the people staring, or even at her food like she normally would have done – she was looking up at the entrance, where four boys were walking towards them.

"Ugh. But seriously, what do they think I'm gonna do? Up and hex them all again?" Elles scowled and stabbed a piece of ham with her fork.

Rose and Sebastian traded glances.

"Yeah, Elles, I think that's about what they're thinking," Sebastian said wearily. "I mean, _they_ don't know why you hexed them."

"Uh-huh," Rose nodded. "I heard some Ravenclaws talking about it in the bathroom, and they all think you tried to blow all four of them up."

"I heard you used Avada Kedavra, and they all only survived by dodging it," Sebastian added drily.

"Great," Elles moaned, dropping her head into her hands. "So now everyone thinks I hate their guts and want them to die. That's cool."

A hand plopped down on her shoulder, and Elles leaned into it without hesitation. Then again, it didn't quite feel like Lily's hand, or Sev's…

"Good to know you don't want to kill us," Black's voice whispered brightly from behind her. Elles groaned again. "Anyways, this'll all wear off soon, trust me."

Elles glanced up at him quickly enough to catch his grin. The other three had continued down the table. She noticed that Potter's strut was faster than normal, and smiled, looking back at Black conspiratorially. The boy's best friend obviously didn't want him to do this, yet here he was, offering her comforting words that, knowing his level of experience in the gossip channels, were probably true. _I may have underestimated him_, Elles considered.

"Especially now that the whole hall sees you two chatting," Sebastian whispered slowly, a look of grudging respect in his eyes.

Black winked at him, and brought his head down so that his lips almost brushed Elles's ear.

"I am still really sorry," he murmured so that only she could hear, and barely. "Just 'cause I don't use dark magic to hurt people doesn't make it okay. I'm not gonna ignore that anymore, honest."

Elles was surprised, to say the least. As he slowly moved away, she turned sharply to meet his eyes. She knew that she was probably letting her wonder, her hesitant approval, and her appreciation show, but she had to make sure he was real, that he meant what he said. As their eyes met, she smiled; his were open, honest, though she could tell they were moments away from regaining their aloof smugness as he moved away from her – but then they wavered, surprising them both, it seemed. Black's gaze shifted into something deeper as he held her gaze, and Elles recognized one of the emotions swarming in the depths. _Has he_ ever _been taken seriously before?_ she wondered. _Has he ever let himself _be _serious before? _He blinked at smirked almost gently at her, turned, and strolled off to rejoin his friends. Elles turned back to Rose and Sebastian, bewildered, but one look at them made it clear that they had not noticed the change in Black. Elles shook off her confusion and joined returned to her meal.

After that, the whispers changed. There seemed to be more confusion and less excitement. Girls still glared, but now the simply seemed to be jealous that a cute boy had singled out Elles, who didn't even girl talk with her year mates, so obviously didn't deserve such attention. Elles marched through the rest of the day, holding her head high and keeping her eyes riveted on her destinations so as to best ignore the remaining stares. Rose and Sebastian walked on either side of her like guards and chatted noisily to block out the rumors, which were no longer spoken in whispers, but discussed loudly with numerous indiscreet glances at Elles as if begging to be corrected.

By dinner, everyone had given up, and Elles, Rose, and Sebastian finally had their peace back. Black grinned triumphantly at Elles as he passed her with his friends, and she grinned back.

"What's that about?" Lily asked suspiciously, glaring at the back of Black's head. She must have come in right behind him.

The three first years just looked at each other.

"Where have _you_ been all day?" Rose sighed. Lily just looked confused.

"I've been pretty distracted, actually. Sev was in the hospital wing until just now," she added quietly. Elles slumped in her seat as the worried tension that had held her together since the previous night suddenly left.

"'Kay," she whispered to Lily, trading glances with Rose and Sebastian, "you _can't _tell Sev, but I may have gone a little crazy last night…"

Two days later, Rose woke Elles soon after dawn.

"What on earth are you doing up?" Elles asked groggily. Rose didn't hate mornings like Sebastian did, but she didn't exactly enjoy getting up before the sun was fairly high in the sky, and a quick glance toward the window told Elles that the sun wasn't even in sight yet. "It's Saturday for God's sake!"

"Sebastian and I are going to the quidditch pitch early to practice some more before the tryout," she explained unsteadily. Elles opened her eyes and saw that Rose was clasping and unclasping her hands nervously, and couldn't seem to hold the rest of herself still, either. "I, well, I was wondering if you'd come watch?" Her voice rose hopefully, and Elles groaned in defeat.

"Fine. I'll be ready to go in a minute."

"Thank you thank you thank you!" Rose breathed out in a _whoosh_. "I'm just gonna go downstairs to meet Sebastian, I don't want him to get worried. Meet you in the common room?" It was unlike Rose to be so unsure of herself and her friends, but Elles understood how badly the girl wanted to make the team and how much rode on everything going right this morning.

"Sure," Elles replied with a sleepy smile.

Rose took a deep breath and raced out of the room. Elles listened to her rapid footsteps down the stairs and got up. She threw on her warmest robes – it was the first weekend of November, and it was cold – and followed Rose to the common room. It was empty but for her two friends. Sebastian, Elles noticed, was a little green. He grimaced at her in greeting, and she smiled back with what she hoped was an encouraging face, but the effect may have been undone because she was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Let's go," Rose said abruptly.

They went to the shed that housed spare brooms, and a magical quill signed out a pair of Cleansweep 3s and a Quaffle to Rose and Sebastian. They immediately mounted and pushed off and flew into the adjacent quidditch pitch as Elles climbed into the stands. The pair was passing around the Quaffle, their formations growing more complicated and intricate as the sun peeked over the horizon and rose higher. After what Elles estimated to be about two hours, others started trickling onto the pitch. Several were in Gryffindor quidditch robes, and many were clutching their brooms tightly, obviously nervous. Elles watched the boy who Sebastian had pointed out to her as the team captain, Arnold Bell. Bell, in turn, was watching Sebastian and Rose, who were only now noticing that they were no longer alone, with interest. They landed and seemed to be mumbling apologies. Elles could see that they were both redder when they landed than they had been just moments before, so she suspected that they were blushing rather than simply red from exertion. A few minutes later, Elles groaned to herself; Potter and Black had just waltzed onto the pitch, each with a superb broom in hand, chatting nonchalantly to each other.

The tryouts started, and Elles watched with unexpected interest. Rose and Sebastian did extremely well, but a fourth year appeared to handle the Quaffle slightly better than Rose, and Sebastian couldn't throw well at greater distances. He wanted to be a Seeker, but since the position wasn't available he was trying out for Chaser. In spite of herself, Elles found her eyes drawn repeatedly back to Potter. He was _really_ good; there was no doubt that he would get one of the Chaser spots, leaving only one for either Rose or the fourth year. _Sebastian isn't likely to make the team this year_, Elles thought sadly. Black was trying out for the open Beater position, and appeared to have hit it off wonderfully with Bell, the current Beater. The second year's skill was surprising; his grace on the ground translated to a parallel comfort in the air, and Elles was startled at the strength with which he hit the Bludger. The boy acted so lazy that Elles never would have guessed he had that kind of trained power.

After the tryouts ended, Elles hurried down to the edge of the pitch to meet her friends. Everyone filed out wearily before her, but she Rose and Sebastian didn't appear. Elles felt her face scrunch in worry – as much as she wished it weren't so, she knew they couldn't both have made the team…_But then what's going on? _she asked herself anxiously.

"Bell held them back for a minute, look." Black had appeared next to her, and seemed to have read her mind.

_Not that it could've been that hard to figure out_, she corrected herself. Following Black's gesture, she saw that, indeed, Rose and Sebastian were standing with Bell, nodding enthusiastically. Another boy, who looked suspiciously like Potter, was also in the cluster. _And that explains why Black's waiting, too_.

"So," Black said in a friendly tone, "you don't play?"

"No, never really been interested," Elles responded casually. Black had continued to smile at her and say hi since that lunch in the Great Hall, but she still wasn't sure what to make of this civility. Sev didn't trust it, but then, he didn't have a clue where it was coming from. In a show of good faith, she decided to add, "I do like to fly, though."

"Yeah? We should go flying sometime!" Black looked legitimately excited about this idea.

"Umm, Black? We're not friends." _Has he forgotten that I tried to hex him? That I _hate _him? How can he just forget all of that?_

Black looked hurt and more than a little bit sad.

"I suppose we're not yet," he said unhappily, "but how are we supposed to get to know each other if we don't hang out?"

Elles stared at him as if he'd grown bright green horns out of his temples. _No, there must be bright green horns on the _inside_ of his skull, messing with his brain._ The ridiculous boy glanced up at the pitch and smiled ruefully.

"Well, here come James and your mates. See you around, kid." He shook his head. _In disappointment? No, that would be weird._

"Goodbye Black," Elles replied, hiding her thoughts under a cool tone.

"Sirius," he corrected in a strange voice, "please, call me Sirius."

"Sirius!" Potter called out cheerily. "You didn't have to wait for me!"

"Course I did, James," Sirius drawled with a lazy smirk. "You'd probably never make it back to the common room with all your new fans throwing themselves at you."

"You're right. I need my Beater to watch my back." Elles rolled her eyes. Potter was far too cheerfully arrogant – she felt like gagging.

"Elles!" Rose cried, throwing herself at Elles. "You'll never believe what happened!"

"You guys were really good," Elles gasped, trying to breathe through her friend's crushing embrace. "I know that."

"We weren't good enough to make the team this year," Sebastian qualified.

"But Bell says we'll for sure make the team next year!" Rose was by now squealing in Elles's ear and jumping up and down, which was a little awkward as she was still attached to her best friend.

"And since only the team is allowed to practice together –"

"– Potter's gonna train us after the normal practices!" Rose finally let go of Elles to clap her hands and jump some more at this fortuitous turn of events.

"He's really serious about making sure the team's still good next year, since so many people are graduating."

"Including the other Chaser and the Seeker!"

"He could tell I wasn't really Chaser material, so I told him I was more interested in trying Seeker," Sebastian confessed with a blush.

"He's sure Bastian'll be great at it," Rose added proudly.

Elles just laughed, her thoughts and confusion about Black – _Sirius?_ – completely leaving her mind as her friends' excitement quickly rubbed off on her. They left for the Great Hall and breakfast – finally – in high spirits.

* * *

A/N I give up. I imagine these characters as saying "git" and "mate" and such, so I'm going to go back and put them back into the earlier chapters, and you'll notice that there's a mate in this one ;) Don't hate me? If I misuse something, or if anything sounds off to you, let me know, _please_!

I also saw this format for notes, and I like it! Thus, the new format.

Last, but by no stretch of the word the least, THANK YOU SideshowJazz1! You are fantastic and I adore you. Also, I'm psyched that people are following this! :) thanks everyone!


	9. Confusion

_Confusion_

"Hey! Snape girl!"

Elles turned sharply towards the call to see Black frantically waving her over to his friends' usual hangout in front of the fireplace in one corner of the common room. Confused as to what he could be so panicked about, and how it could possibly involve her, she walked over. She wasn't really doing anything, anyways; Sebastian and Rose were at their Quidditch training and Lily was studying with Sev in the library, as per usual before dinner.

"What?" Elles asked warily.

"What's your name?" The idiot boy was grinning at her winningly like this was the most normal thing in the world.

"What?" Elles's voice now clearly expressed her exasperation.

"Well, I asked you to call me Sirius, so it'd be a bit strange for me to keep calling you Snape, now wouldn't it?" Black explained earnestly.

Elles just stared at him. Behind him, Lupin was supposedly reading his Potions textbook, but his smirk made it clear that he was not only paying attention, but also quite enjoying his friend's spectacle. Pettigrew wasn't even pretending not to watch; his brows seemed to be stuck high on his forehead in gleeful anticipation as he looked back and forth between Black and Elles. He reminded Elles of Petunia before her favorite program came on.

"Fine, I get it," Sirius exclaimed in a dramatically wounded tone. "We're not friends, and we're definitely not on first name terms." Elles nodded shortly and Black had the nerve to beam at her. "So Snape, how about a game of Exploding Snap?"

"Is there something wrong with you?" Elles asked, struggling to form words through her utter disbelief of the git's persistence.

"Nah, I just want to get to know you. You know, so we can be friends and so you'll stop calling me Black," Sirius corrected cheerfully. Lupin snorted, and Elles glared at the tawny-haired boy. "So? One game? I don't bite, promise."

"He's even mostly housetrained," Lupin muttered through his growing smirk, glancing up slyly at Elles. He shook his head in exasperation that so nearly mimicked her own that Elles smiled at him.

"Fine," Elles said with a roll of her eyes, curious about these suddenly friendly boys. "One game."

"Yes!" Black punched the air enthusiastically with his fists. "I knew you'd come around! Remus, you owe me a chocolate frog," he stated, giving the other boy a smug grin.

Elles shook her head as Lupin rolled his eyes and grumbled something about not betting against blockheads. She settled herself down on the plush crimson rug next to Black's couch, which he promptly slid off of to join her.

"Ha!" Black whooped in triumph several minutes later. "I win!"

"I wanna play, Sirius," Pettigrew whined.

Black turned to Elles. "One more game?" he asked her hopefully.

"Sure," Elles replied, surprised to find herself smiling at Black – Sirius? "By the way, my name's Elles."

Sirius responded with a huge grin as he dealt out another hand of cards. Elles almost missed his murmured, "nice to meet you, Elles," as the game began.

They actually ended up playing eight more hands, including five with Remus, only stopping when Elles saw Rose and Sebastian come through the portrait hole with Potter. She said her goodbyes quickly but cordially, and smiled hesitantly at the three boys.

Her friends didn't seem notice where she had been sitting, but Potter shot her a rather confused look of distrust. Elles looked him in the eye and raised her chin in defiance before Rose and Sebastian descended on her.

"It was awesome!" Sebastian crowed. "Potter let out the Snitch for me, and it was so much fun to chase it!"

"And me and Potter worked on Quaffle skills, and he showed me some really cool tricks!" Rose added excitedly.

"Sounds like you two are gonna make the team for sure next year," Elles said with a warm smile as she led her friends back out of the common room and towards dinner.

"Yeah!"

"It's gonna be easy!"

"Elles!"

Elles looked up from her essay in surprise. Sirius was walking into the common room with the rest of the Quidditch team, with the exception of Potter, of course, and was heading straight for her.

"Rematch?" he asked confidently when he reached her.

Elles sighed, but found herself smiling. "I have an essay due tomorrow for Transfiguration. I have to finish it."

"Are your friends finished with it yet?" Sirius replied, one brow quirked up and a sly half-smile playing on his lips.

"No, but – "

"Perfect! So you'll do your essay with them when they get back from training, and you'll play Exploding Snap with us now."

Elles groaned, considering the fact that this would leave her writing the essay after her time with Lily and Sev, but she found that her heart wasn't into it. She had found yesterday that she actually enjoyed her time with Sirius, Remus, and Peter. _I'm just trying to make Sirius into a better person_, she justified to herself. With that thought, she grinned at the boy with the clever grey eyes and packed up her things. He gave a whoop of triumph, and sprinted back across the room to Remus and Peter, who were sitting calmly in front of the fireplace.

After that, Elles found herself settling into a new rhythm. She would go to meals and classes with Rose and Sebastian and do homework with them during normal Quidditch practice, play Exploding Snap or Gobstones with Sirius, Remus, and Peter until dinner, and hang out with Lily and Sev after dinner. Rose and Sebastian were shocked when they noticed this change in pattern, though.

"What were you doing with those gits?" Rose had exclaimed.

"They're not actually half bad," Elles had found herself explaining with a shrug. "And I think Sirius is trying to make up for being so awful to Sev."

"You really believe that?" Sebastian had asked quietly, looking deep into her eyes with a worried expression.

"I believe that there's more to him than the snobby git he acts like," Elles responded equally seriously, "and I believe that he deserves a chance to prove it."

Rose had snorted and Sebastian had just stared in the direction of the fireplace, his anxious look tinted with something else.

_Anger, it seemed most like_, Elles thought now, looking back on the incident._ But not quite._ She sighed. Lily didn't know yet, _but those boy's aren't my friends, right? So there's nothing really for me to tell her…not really…_

"What are you doing for Christmas, Elles?" Remus asked, pulling her back into the present.

"Going home," she replied, smiling ironically to herself. She was excited to spend more time with her brother, but that place…Spinner's End was never really _home_. Home was wherever Sev was, though, and since Lily was going back, there was never any question what he would do for break next week. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm staying here," Remus said, returning her small smile. _He must think I'm glad to be going_, Elles thought, almost amused at the thought.

"Me too!" Peter exclaimed with a slightly constipated look. Elles bit back a laugh as she recognized it as the boy's attempt at mimicking Sirius's smug arrogance.

"Peter, do you need to visit the loo?" Sirius, apparently, did _not_ recognize the intent and sounded genuinely concerned. Remus snickered, and Elles couldn't help but let out a giggle. Sirius smirked at them, but raised a brow in silent question.

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked, a terrified expression on his face. "D-did you do something?"

"What? No. You looked constipated." Sirius was sniggering now, too, as he realized his concern was misplaced.

"I'm not!" Peter squealed.

"Of course you're not, Peter. Sirius is just a prat," Remus stated diplomatically.

"And you were making the oddest face," Sirius added earnestly, his too-eager smile undermining the otherwise innocent remark.

Elles smiled as she sat back to watch the three friends bicker. She had begun to find different relationships between friends interesting, almost instructional, and Sirius was the most interesting single person to watch: he treated each of his friends completely differently. It had taken her a few weeks, but now Elles could see that he really did care just as deeply for each of his three best friends; he just showed it differently with each of them.

"What about Elles's face?" Peter snapped petulantly. "She's always blushing and smiling funny. Look, she's doing it now!"

Elles blinked in surprise, and her jaw dropped a little. Unhelpfully, she immediately blushed a deep pink.

"What's wrong with blushing?" Sirius retorted. "And I don't see anything funny about her smiles."

"Why are you making fun of _me_ though?" Peter whined accusingly. "She barely even hangs out with us."

"That's it, though, Pete," Sirius replied, taken by such surprise that he forgot to drawl his words or add his lazy grin. "You're one of my best mates. You know I'm kidding."

"And if Elles took it the wrong way, she'd send him to the hospital wing for a month," Remus added matter-of-factly with a snarky twinkle in his eyes. Elles snapped out of her shock to stick her tongue out at him.

"I could hex you if I wanted, too," Peter grumbled sourly. "She's just a stupid first year."

"Elles!" She had never been so happy to hear Sebastian's voice. "Dinner?"

"Yes!" She called out in reply, and leapt up and over to the portrait hole in record time. Sebastian looked at her in confusion.

"Everything okay?" he asked quietly.

"Of course," she replied, trying to make her voice and smile as normal as possible. "I'm just really hungry, that's all. You guys took forever today."

"Yeah," Rose agreed. "Potter wanted to work on some really hard maneuvers today. I could eat all of Gryffindor table."

Elles laughed and Sebastian shook his head, still watching her closely.

After dinner, Elles began to make her way through the crowd towards her corridor, as she had come to think of it. Within steps, however, she heard a drawling voice.

"So Snivellus," Potter said contemptuously. "I haven't seen much of you lately. Did you find a little hole greasy enough to crawl into?"

"You're one to talk _Potter_," Elles heard her brother sneer. "I actually go to class."

"James, leave him," another voice sighed in exaggerated boredom. Elles could hardly believe what she was hearing – _Sirius Black_ telling Potter to leave their favorite victim alone? She began to push her way through the throng of people ringing the spectacle. "Snivelly's getting old. All he does is suck up to ol' Sluggy. Now Mulciber, on the other hand, I think he was born to entertain. What other reason would a face that ugly be allowed on this good earth?"

Elles, having finally reached the front of the masses, saw Mulciber growl threateningly at Sirius. With a last look of annoyance, Potter turned away from Sev and focused his attention on the enormous Slytherin.

"You're right. He reminds me of a patch of well-stomped mulch," Potter said pensively.

"Poor fellow. It probably runs in the family," Sirius added with a sigh, shaking his head sadly. Mulciber was growing steadily more purple, and his mouth appeared to be stuck in a snarl of a grimace.

"It's okay, Mulchy Mulcey. We won't make fun of your mum for her poor taste." A delighted smile began to form on Potter's lips, as his eyes danced with the possibilities he was clearly considering for Mulciber.

"Yeah, it'd be too cruel. She already got stuck with you. That's gotta be someone's idea of a joke."

"Pretty cruel one, even by my standards. And you know I _love _a good prank."

Mulciber, it appeared, could not take any more of this, and with a guttural roar threw himself at Sirius. Sirius easily sidestepped the brute and pulled out his wand, grinning. Potter joined him with relish, and the pair each hexed the boy. Mulciber began dancing and singing to two very different songs, glaring daggers at his assailants, and Potter spun and walked away, hooting with laughter. As Sirius turned to follow, he caught Elles's eye and gave her a sly wink. She watched, mouth agape, as he strutted away with his trademark smirk slightly more triumphant than usual.

"Let's go," Sev's voice growled as a familiar hand grabbed her arm. Elles let her brother pull her into a classroom down the nearest deserted corridor. Lily came in right behind them and closed the door.

"I can't believe those gits!" Lily shouted vehemently, pacing the room angrily.

"Mulciber's gonna be unbearable," Sev commented flatly as he watched Lily.

"Don't you hate Mulciber?" Elles asked, meaning the question for either of her friends. Lily always complained about the boy, and Sev claimed to only put up with him to stay under his radar.

"Yeah," Sev admitted with a hard smile. "And he always made fun of me when Potter and Black got through with me. I'd like to see how he likes their pranks now."

"So? Just because he's a creep doesn't mean they can just attack him like that," Lily fumed, glaring at Elles.

"Better an evil creep than Sev," Elles muttered, looking away from Lily.

"That I can agree with," Sev declared with a soft smile. He looked at Elles, and she smiled broadly back at him.

_I got this, Ollivander._

* * *

A/N Heads up, at some point in the near future, I'll be shipping my computer off to get fixed (it currently flashes seizure - or more like headache - inducing colored lines at me). I'll be visiting the library as much as possible to keep working on this and other projects, but things might get more sporadic than they already are :( Once it's fixed, though, I'll be able to write for longer periods of time! Whoo!

I'm super excited, btw, that people are liking this.


	10. Home

_Home_

Boarding the Hogwarts Express, Elles couldn't help but sigh. Her first year had gone so quickly it was hard to believe it was really over. Even harder to believe was that she wouldn't see her friends for three whole months. Elles followed Rose and Sebastian into an empty compartment and stared forlornly at the castle that now held her entire life; she smiled wryly at the thought that such a statement no longer meant Sev alone. After Christmas Break, everyone had been busier. Lily was being invited to more of Slughorn's gatherings; Sev, Elles and Sebastian, and Rose by extension, were studying ever harder for their end of year exams; and Sirius, Remus, Peter and Potter seemed much more exhausted lately. Elles smiled at the memory of Madame Pince's shocked expression when _Sirius Black_ checked out a Transfiguration book for extra reading. The year was over now, though, and Elles and Sev were returning to Spinner's End. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Elles turned back to her two best friends.

"Mum says you can both come over for as long as you want!" Rose announced excitedly. "I just got the owl this morning. You'll come for a while, right?"

"Of course!" Sebastian immediately enthused. "My brother promised my old friends I'd see them all first week back, but after that I'll come for as long as my parents let me."

"Er, well, I was sort of planning on spending most of the summer with Sev, but I can come for a little while," Elles muttered, blushing. Truthfully, she didn't want to leave Sev alone at Spinner's End; with his pride, she didn't think would he would be comfortable escaping alone to the Evanses as regularly as he was when he had Elles as an excuse.

"Well, you'd better find _some_ time to come visit us or I'll have to have a talk with that brother of yours. And you know me, my fists do my best talking," Rose declared with a smirk.

"I'll make it over, I promise," Elles laughed.

"You better," Sebastian agreed.

"Elles!" Sirius jerked the door open with a clang and leapt into their compartment. Rose groaned good-naturedly and Sebastian grimaced.

"Hi Sirius," Elles said, trying hard not to giggle. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm awful, Elles," he replied despondently. "I'm not gonna see my favorite first year for months! I don't how I'll survive."

"Actually, you're never gonna see your favorite first year again," Sebastian corrected brightly.

Sirius blanched. "Elles, what's he talking about?" Elles, who understood exactly what her friend was doing, put on her best consoling face and shook her head slowly.

"You're not." She broke the act then to grin triumphantly at his dismay. "I'll be a second year next year, so I won't be your favorite first year ever again."

"You – you're – you are both—" Sirius spluttered, then, thinking it through, beamed. "geniuses. You are both geniuses."

"C'mon, Sirius, let's stop bothering the ickle firsties and find our own compartment," Potter drawled from the compartment entrance behind Sirius, rolling his eyes and grabbing his friend's collar to drag him out.

"Nah," Sirius replied, twisting out of Potter's grip. "I'll catch up. I'm gonna stay and get to know my future favorite second year."

Elles beamed at him. Rose and Sebastian grinned and turned to continue talk of summer plans.

"So," Sirius said to Elles, quietly enough not to bother the chatting pair on the opposite bench. "You'll write to me, right?"

"Of course," Elles said, pleasantly surprised at his request. Sirius nodded. "Are – are you going home this summer?"

"Yeah," he said, giving her a sharp look. "Why do you make it sound like a bad thing?"

Elles was surprised. He'd shown her one of his scars all those months ago, and as she'd spent time with him, she had noticed more silvery lines threading across his skin.

"Because it is," she answered in a soft whisper. "Your scars say so. And I met Regulus, you know, on the boat before my sorting. He was really scared of your family. So that says so too. And, well, the way you never talk about it. That's what really proves it."

"You never talk about home, either." Those clever grey eyes were trained on her so intently that she had to look away, blushing.

"No, I don't." She forced herself to return his gaze. Even more softly, she continued. "Like I said, that's what proves it."

* * *

A/N Hi all, I know it's short, but it needs to be done. Time's gonna start moving faster for a bit coming up (technically starting with this chapter, I guess.)

I'm sending in my computer tomorrow morning, so I don't know when I'll be able to post next. I'll try to live at the library as much as possible, but, sadly, I can make no promises :( It's supposedly only going to be gone for a week, so hopefully the weekend after this one I'll have an update, but I don't really trust corporate time estimates. I'm super psyched to see that people are reading and following and favoriting and reviewing this (ahhh!) so I'll do my best!


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